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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Additional cuts made in DEQ budget

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee has set a budget for the state Department of Environmental Quality that eliminates funding for the Pend Oreille Basin Lakes Commission, to save $75,000; cuts support for the Basin Advisory Groups and Watershed Advisory Groups by $75,000; eliminates the wastewater operator training program to save $26,900; eliminates a hazardous waste inspector to save $35,000; and more. The budget also provides $390,900 in one-time funding for water quality monitoring, a program that had been zero-funded for the past two years. The cuts, which go beyond the governor's proposed budget reductions for the already much-reduced department, slice an additional 2 percent from the DEQ's budget. Overall, DEQ next year would see a 3.4 percent cut in state general funds from this year's level, and an 11.8 percent cut in total funds. The budget was approved on an 18-2 vote; among the "no" votes was Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, who has championed the lakes commission's efforts.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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